I am used to IDEs like Eclipse and Intellij and am trying to completely switch over to Atom. Few of the things I have been unable to figure out (or found packages for):
1. How to view the structure of the file in Atom. For e.g. a shortcut that would show me the classes/methods/variables in a file so that I can jump from one to the other quickly.
2. How to go to the declaration of a method or class? I see "Go to declaration" as one of the options when I right click but it does not seem to do anything -- at least for php files. Am I missing something there?
Thanks.
For 1.) How to view the structure of the file in Atom. For e.g. a shortcut that would show me the classes/methods/variables in a file so that I can jump from one to the other quickly you could use symbols-tree-view which I just discovered because I was searching for the same functionality. You can browse for classes, functions, vars, ... and click on them to get there.
Your question 2.) How to go to the declaration of a method or class? I see "Go to declaration" as one of the options when I right click but it does not seem to do anything -- at least for php files. Am I missing something there? should be answered, too by this, or not?
Try this https://github.com/alibaba/structure-view
Structure View for ATOM editor, just like Outline view in Eclipse or Structure tool window in IDEA / WebStorm, provides quick navigation for symbols of source code with a tree view.
I've seem to have lost the ability in my Eclipse to auto-correct errors in my source code lines.
For example, a line like this:
Date date = new Date();
has red jagged lines beneath the Date() part. Previously I could mouse hover over it see a popup menu of options to fix it. Now I all I ever get is a popup with the text "Cannot resolve to a type".
The only change I can think of that I've made and I don't know if it has anything to do with this problem, is that I started editing my .java files with an outside editor. Then focusing back into Eclipse I get a popup saying the source has changed and do I want to update so I say OK.
Sometimes I will edit inside Eclipse and sometimes i will edit the source outside of Eclipse. I'm not sure if this is a bad practice or not?
Its your wish to edit Java files outside or inside eclipse. But Java editor has many features which are very helpful to developers. I suggest to edit Java files inside eclipse only.If you find other editors are good or you used to it then no problem you can edit Java files out side eclipse also. The problem you mentioned in not related to it. But make sure that changes are applied before building project in eclipse.
Solution
This occurs whenever there are multiple classes are available with the same name in you build path then eclipse don't know which one to import by default. So keep the caret on the error line and press Ctrl+1. Then a eclipse gives options to user to import one among these. See the picture below. Choose the right one then error will disappear.
I use an older plugin called Veloeclipse for editing Velocity templates in Eclipse. There's been no development on this since 2009, which isn't a problem because it's mainly just for syntax highlighting and format validation. The really annoying thing about it, however, is that when I try to do Show In to view the current Velocity template within my Package Explorer or Project Explorer, the only available option is Properties. That's not really useful. I really need to be able to get to the file in one of the regular explorer views.
So I have sort of two questions:
Is there a way to configure this without having to monkey with any code? A configuration file or something? I've grepped through my Eclipse installation and haven't seen anything, but I'm hoping that there's something I'm missing.
So assuming that the answer to my first question is no, how do I go about modifying the plugin code so that it will show more than the Properties view in the Show In menu? Most of what I found on the plugin development wiki comes from the other direction: how to make your view or perspective appear in the Show In menu.
Any help with this would be hugely appreciated!
Try to check the plugin source code. it might do something different than other editors. What I mean is that the show in menu item that you have there is not the usual extension point but a hard coded context menu option.
I often end up with lots of empty panes in Eclipse that can only be minimized but not destroyed. How do I close these?
Update:
In this screenshot you can see two minimized on the upper left and several on the right hand side. In the center are four more. They only seem to be restorable in the Debug mode.
http://img406.imageshack.us/img406/9900/eclipse1.png
this happened to me, too. What worked for me (based on FilmJ and douncon's comments) was to open a class file, then drag that tab over the top of the empty pane.
Select Window -> Reset Perspective. That should reset the current perspective (what you call "mode") to its' initial state, (hopefully) closing all irrelevant views.
Something seems terribly wrong with your Eclipse. Maybe you should reinstall it. It is possible that you installed a buggy plugin.
First of all, what do you mean by pane? Eclipse has:
Windows (Eclipse itself, e.g. instance)
Documents (tabs)
Views (properties, tasks, explorer, etc)
If by 'pane' you mean document editors, you have problems either with your Eclipse version or most likely one of the installed plugins.
Each View also can be closed (except maybe some project types (perspectives) of which I'm not aware). For CDT (C/C++) you can close practically everything.
I'll recommend you download latest Eclipse version with no plugins, extract it to different folder, and check if that happens again. If yes, please explain more in details (like Eclipse version, perspective you are using, any side plugins, etc).
Also a good places are Eclipse community forum, mailing list and bugz :-)
I had the same problem. For me it helped to go into the right perspective and activate the functionality that caused the window in the first place. Once I reactivated the functionality, in my case "QNX Memory Analysis perspective", I was able to close all the windows one by one.
The conclusion is you have to refill the empty windows with content and then you will be able to close them properly.
So, it's really very easy for this to happen, if you open an editor that's incompatible with the existing editor, you can often end up having to place it outside of the tab list in one of your editor panes, then you might clear or copy that, typically while trying to add that view to a tab list.
In any case, what it's done is create a new editor, and all you need to do is drag some file to that empty editor window giving it some form of context, then close it.
I had the same issue. I followed #zvikico, but instead of just resetting, I first reset and then closed all the perspectives. Please follow the following to fix the problem. It worked for me:
Window -> Perspective -> Reset perspective..
After resetting follow below:
Window -> Perspective -> Close All Perspectives
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I have been using Eclipse as an IDE for a short amount of time (about 3 months of full use) and almost every day I learn about some shortcut or feature that I had absolutely no idea about. For instance, just today I learned that Ctrl+3 was the shortcut for a Quick Access window.
I was wondering what your most useful/favorite Eclipse features are. With the IDE being so big, it would be helpful to learn about the more commonly used parts of the program.
My most commonly used features are
ctrl+1 quick-fix / spell-checker
opening files
ctrl+shift+t load class file by classname
ctrl+shift+r load any file by filename
matches are made on the start of the class/filename. start your search pattern with a * to search anywhere within the filename/classname.
Formatting
ctrl+shift+f Format source file
(set up your formatting style in Window | preferences | java | code style | formatter)
ctrl+shift+o Organise imports
Generated code
alt+s,r to generate getters and setters
alt+s,v to insert method signatures for overidden methods from superclass or interface
Refactorings
alt+shift+l Extract text-selection as local variable (really handy in that it determines and inserts the type for you.
alt+shift+m Extract text-selection as a method
alt+shift+i inline selected method
Running and debugging.
alt+shift+x is a really handy prefix to run stuff in your current file.
alt+shift+x, t run unit tests in current file
alt+shift+x, j run main in current file
alt+shift+x, r run on server
There are more. The options are shown to you in the lower-right popup after hitting alt+shift+x.
alt+shift+x can be switched for alt+shift+d in all the above examples to run in the debugger.
Validation
As of the recent Ganymede release, you can now switch of validation in specified files and folders. I've been waiting for this feature for ages.
Go to Project | Properties | Validation
click on the ... button in the settings column of the validator you want to shut up
Add a rule to the exclude group
code navigation
hold down ctrl to make all variables, methods and classnames hyperlinks to their definitions.
alt+left to navigate back to where you clicked ctrl
alt+right to go "forwards" again
This is cool: If someone has emailed you a stack trace, you can copy and paste the stack trace into Eclipse's Console window. You can then click on class names in the stack trace as if your own code had generated it.
In terms of actual features, rather than shortcuts, I strongly recommend taking a look at Mylyn.
It essentially skins Eclipse with a task focussed view. It tracks the files you touch when working on a task, and focusses many aspects of the UI onto the resources that it decides are relevant to the job in hand. Eclipse can be somewhat busy to look at, especially with a big multi module project, and Mylyn helps cut through the cruft. The connectivity to issue tracking software and source control repositories is also excellent.
In my experience, it polarises opinion amongst those who try working with it, which is probably a sign that it is offering something interesting... Don't mean to sound like a fanboy - it is definitely worth a look though.
A shortcut that I use everyday is Ctrl+K. In your editor (not only Java file), simply select a text (like a variable, a function, etc.), and then use this shortcut to go to the next occurrence of this text in the current editor.
It's faster than using the Ctrl+F shortcut...
Note also that you can use Ctrl+Shift+K to search backwards.
Ctrl-Alt (up/down) Copy selected line(s) above or below current line.
Alt (up/down) Move current (or multiple selected) lines up or down
Ctrl-Shift-R Bring up the resource window, start typing to find class/resource
Ctrl-O Bring up all methods and fields for the current class. Hitting it again will bring up all methods and fields for current class and super classes.
Ctrl-/ or Ctrl-Alt-C Comment single or multiple lines with //
Ctrl-Shift-/ Comment selected lines with /* */
Ctrl-. Take you to the next error or warning line
CTRL+PAGE DOWN / CTRL+PAGE UP to switch between opened editors
CTRL+E to also switch between opened editors (allows to type the name)
CTRL+O is extremely important for me. You don't longer need the Outline View then (you can close it which will give you more space). Then, you can type a method name or just the beginning of it and you quickly can get to it. I also use it to inspect what stuff is available. For example: CTRL+O and then type get ... now I see all getters.
F3 while an element is selected in the code: brings you to its definition or it's source. e.g. used on a method call it brings you into the source code of that method.
CTRL+M to maximize the current window
As already said, CTRL+3 is extremely good. It basically allows you to use Eclipse completely without a mouse. Just type CTRL+3 and then package explorer for example.
CTRL+F8 cycle trough perspectives
CTRL+L allows to type a line number and brings you directly to that line.
CTRL+SHIFT+G searches for all references to the selected element in the workspace.
And not a shortcut: In the project settings under Java Editor you can find Save Actions. This allows you to set up the project so that the code is automatically cleaned up and formatted when you save a file. That's very good it safes you from constantly pressing CTRL+O and CTRL+F.
Eclipse auto refresh isn't on by default so if you make changes to a file outside of eclipse, the change won't be reflected in your build. this is very annoying if you just did an svn/git update/rebase and things aren't working the way they're supposed to.
Turn it on in windows->preferences->workspace and tick Refresh Automatically.
Local History
It's a great feature. Eclipse has its own mini-CVS for all files in a project. If you want to revert some change you made, or even restore deleted file - you can right click on the project and select "Restore from Local History".
Just saved my ass *tears of joy*
CTRL+Shift+P to jump to the matching bracket/parenthesis.
One key feature: Shift+Alt+T for the refactoring menu.
Ctrl-shift-T, but only type the initial characters (and even a few
more) of the class you're looking
for. For example, you can type
"NetLi" to find NetworkListener
In the Search window, Ctrl-. takes you to the first leaf of a tree branch
Alt-/ is Word Completion. Slightly different from Ctrl-space
CTRL+SHIFT+X selected text becomes UPPERCASE
CTRL+SHIFT+Y selected text becomes lowercase
I'd like to add two additional shortcuts:
CTRL+F6 Switch between open editors (CTRL+SHIFT+F6 to scroll through the list in the opposite direction)
CTRL+F11 start program in debug mode
F11 start program in normal mode
A lot of the key bindings depend on the perspective and view currently active.
My most used ones for the Java perspective:
ctrl-shift-r open resource
ctrl-shift-t open type
ctrl-1 quick fix/refactor
ctrl-j incremental search
ctrl-h search in files (select a base directory and set scope to selected resources)
ctrl-o list methods
ctrl-alt-h open call hierarchy
ctrl-shift-l list shortcut keys
hit ctrl-shift-l again to go directly to preferences to change key mappings
I am also a fan of Eclipse, however since I spend a majority of my time in Visual Studio, I will suggest that you read Eric Sink's series of articles "C# to Java" (parts 1-4). Not only is Eric always an entertaining read, but this brief series covers some awesome Eclipse insight for those who have not been into Eclipse or have been away from it for a while:
From C# to Java: Part 1
From C# to Java: Part 2
From C# to Java: Part 3
From C# to Java: Part 4
Ctrl-Shift-M while the cursor is on a class name in your java file, will specifically add that and only that class to your imports. This is different from Ctrl-Shift-O which will not only add those imports not already defined, but will also remove imports not currently needed, something you might not necessarily want to do.
I forgot about [Ctrl+2 -> r] scope variable rename. Place the cursor in the variable you wish to rename, press Ctrl+2, then r, then type the new name watching all instances of that variable get renamed at the same time.
It's awesome at refactoring Hungarian Notation.
alt-shift-a is extremely useful in a few situations.
I use a lot of the above and also like for quick search: CTRL+J then type what I am looking for, then CTRL+K for next occurrence.
Lately I've been using the MouseFeeds plugin to automatically tell me what the key stroke combinations are. That way by repetition I remember them better.
This link has a better picture and description of what it looks like and does.
Shift+Alt+b for the simple navigation row over the editor.
I've just released this blog post about Top 5 Useful Hidden Eclipse Features. It contains:
Favorites: Types and members that will always show up in auto-completion
The awesome block selection mode: For multi-line editing
The EGit staging view: Much better than git itself
Type filters: To remove awt and java.lang.Object stuff from auto-completion
Formatter tags: To delimit code sections that shouldn't be auto-formatted
Alt+left and Alt+ right will navigate you forward and back.
I find the project-specific settings useful in Eclipse 3.3.
For example, if you have several developers working on a project who have different code styles for curly braces, line spacing, number of imports etc. then you can specify the style settings for the project. Then you can configure the save actions so that the code is automatically formatted when a file is saved. The result is everyone's code is formatted the same before it's checked in.